http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssAlex Schroeder: Retrospectivehttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Diary
kensanata@gmail.comkensanata@gmail.comThe Homepage of Alex Schroeder.Thu, 24 May 2018 19:31:10 GMTThu, 24 May 2018 19:31:10 GMTOddmusePermission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.htmlhttps://alexschroeder.ch/pics/alex.pngAlex Schroeder: Retrospectivehttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki
The Year in Reviewhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2017-12-21_The_Year_in_Review
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2017-12-21_The_Year_in_Review<p>So, how was 2017? Well, mostly it was a year where all the <em>cancer</em> related shit stopped happening. My wife got better with every month and it was a joy to be there by her side. This is our life: <a class="url http outside" href="https://xkcd.com/1928/">XKCD on cancer</a>.</p><p>What else? I discovered <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2017-11-16_How_to_Mastodon">Mastodon</a> and moved my micro-blogging there. I don’t have 2000 followers or more like I do on Google+ (but how many of you are still reading?) but it’s free software, the API is open (I wrote <a class="url http outside" href="https://github.com/kensanata/mastodon-backup#mastodon-archive">a command line tool to archive and expire my posts</a>!), and it was not too difficult to find a few interesting people to chat with.</p><p>I have an account <a class="url http outside" href="https://dice.camp/@kensanata">for RPG stuff</a> and an account <a class="url http outside" href="https://octodon.social/@kensanata">for everything else</a>. And the blog is still up, of course.</p><p><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Diary">Diary</a> is a good entry point for everything, or just see <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/RPG">RPG</a> for the gaming stuff. And if you need a feed for your Feedly or whatever app you use, try <code>https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/feed/full/RPG</code>.</p><p>What else? We spent six weeks in <em>Australia</em> as a reward for making it through the last two years. I took <a class="url http outside" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/gallery/2017-australien/">a lot of pictures</a>.</p><p>I guess that reminds me that I closed my Flickr account and decided to host all our photos on my own server. If you feel like browsing, I have <a class="url http outside" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/gallery/">a lists of all our galleries</a>.</p><p>Uhm, I guess that’s it.</p><p>I don’t post too much about gaming on my blog and Google+ these days because I felt that all the stuff I cared about has already been said. When I read <span class="nick">+<a class="url http" href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/+HaraldWagener/posts">Harald Wagener</a></span>’s <a class="url http outside" href="https://plus.google.com/+HaraldWagener/posts/24EuR2GoZfa">end of year post</a>, I felt much the same.</p><p>I still play, offline, face to face: I run three campaigns and have people at my table five times per month. It’s <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Rasiermesserk%C3%BCste/">a biweekly German campaign</a>, <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Greyheim/">a biweekly English campaign</a>, and <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Wilderlande/">a monthly campaign</a> for a good friend and some kids. These campaigns all use my fantasy heartbreaker OSR rules, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Halberds_and_Helmets">Halberds &amp; Helmets</a>.</p><p>2017 was pretty cool because where as I failed the <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2015-12-20_BX64">BX64 challenge</a> which James V West posted on Google+ <a class="url http outside" href="https://plus.google.com/+JamesVWest/posts/MQy8sxrhQ2b">in 2015</a>, I finished the goal I had set myself after some incoherent efforts at writing up my big campaign arc at the time. That just never ends well. All the copyrighted crap you have to excise, all the changes, all the improvisations, it all gets lost anyway. But I wrote my own boring monster manual and illustrated it! And half the images aren’t too shabby. I recently showed one or two to players at the table and they gasped. Wights and gnolls, I think. That was nice. All of this ended up being the “Halberds &amp; Helmets Ref Guide”.</p><p>Anyway. Politics still gets me down, I’m still a melancholy person, I’m still happy to have no kids and I still don’t understand why environmentalism, the end of the patriarchy and the end of wealth inequality, isn’t the absolute top priority of anybody with kids. Here I go again. That’s the kind of ranting that makes me gloomy and I don’t want it. It’s bad enough when I read the newspaper, and I rarely do that these days.</p><p>I’m eating cabbage and raw beetroot salad with some einkorn bread, drinking sencha and listening to Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil, Op. 37, “Verspers”. The beautiful music nearly moves me to tears.</p><p>2017 was also the year I started buying my own <em>whisky</em>. Not sure whether I should be alarmed. Glenfarclas Cask Strength 105, and Ardberg Uigeadail. Sláinte!</p><p><a class="image" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Image_1_for_2017-12-21_The_Year_in_Review"><img alt="Image of my dinner" class="upload" src="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/download/Image_1_for_2017-12-21_The_Year_in_Review" title="Image of my dinner" /></a></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Thu, 21 Dec 2017 20:29:30 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2017-12-21_The_Year_in_ReviewAlexnewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2017-12-21_The_Year_in_Reviewhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2017-12-21_The_Year_in_ReviewRetrospectiveLooking Backhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2015-12-24_Looking_Back
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2015-12-24_Looking_Back<p>In terms of role-playing games I continued playing my Astral Sea campaign in German, I started running a megadungeon campaign in English, and I’m still running a monthly game for kids. We practically stopped our biweekly indie one shots.</p><p>In terms of software for role-playing games I write the <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Face_Generator">Face Generator</a> which I still love and I wrote <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Gridmapper">Gridmapper</a> which I loved but then I discovered that I wasn’t actually creating any dungeons for my own games. I loved Gridmapper for the technical aspect: it’s a single SVG file with embedded XHTML and Javascript. It comes with a demo and it saves dungeons to a wiki for everybody to share, and you can save it locally as well.</p><p>So far, so good.</p><p><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Claudia">Claudia</a> and I pushed our running goals. She had been training for 10km runs and decided that in 2015 she was going to do a half marathon. At the end of July we ran 21km as part of our training. In August, a mere week later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and started chemo. Later we learned of two heterozygot mutations of the <a class="url http outside" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ataxia_telangiectasia_mutated#Role_in_cancer">ATM gene</a>, meaning that she has two mutated copies, one from each parent. The mutations are not clinical significant, meaning that not enough is known to say whether these mutations are related to her cancer. It is known, however, that mutations in this gene can be related to certain leukemia (and she had <a class="url http outside" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acute_lymphoblastic_leukemia">one of them</a> as a teenager) and certain breast cancer types (and she has <a class="url http outside" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple-negative_breast_cancer">one of them</a> right now). The ATM gene encodes a protein that is involved in DNA repair. Cancers due to failures in DNA repair usually react well to Carboplatin-Taxol chemotherapy, and hers did. Since her leukemia was treated using <a class="url http outside" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthracycline">Anthracyclines</a> and these antibiotics have a cardiotoxic effect, we must avoid them even if they are considered to be a very effective treatment. For all these reasons, we opted for a bilateral <a class="near" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastectomy" title="Wikipedia">Mastectomy</a> with a simultaneous reconstruction of the breast using transplanted fat tissue from her belly. This happened at the beginning of December. The navel was transplanted, skin from the belly was used to cover the holes left after excision of the nipples. The body needs time to heal. Still, the breast tissue was sent in for analysis and some active tumor cells were found. Thus, the chemotherapy had not been the complete success we had been led to believe. Apparently, new research shows two year disease free survival can be increased slightly by an add-on <a class="near" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capecitabine" title="Wikipedia">Capecitabine</a> chemotherapy (<a class="url http outside" href="http://www.abstracts2view.com/sabcs15/view.php?nu=SABCS15L_1229">abstract</a>). We started on that, yesterday.</p><p>So, in short: the second half of 2015 can pretty much fuck itself and I’m <em style="font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0.125em; padding-left: 0.125em;">hoping for significant improvements in 2016.</em></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Life" rel="tag" title="Tag">Life</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Thu, 24 Dec 2015 10:11:24 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2015-12-24_Looking_BackAlex Schroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2015-12-24_Looking_Backhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2015-12-24_Looking_BackLifeRPGRetrospectiveMy RPG Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2014-12-31_My_RPG_Year
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2014-12-31_My_RPG_Year<p>The end of the year is always a good opportunity to look over the year’s posts—RPG posts, to be exact.</p><p>I worked on my <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/halberdsnhelmets">Halberds &amp; Helmets Character Generator</a> and added random faces from books in the public domain. It was a few hours of boring work but it seemed easier than writing a face generating web service. I’m still planning to do that, though!</p><p>I also worked on my German house rule document which I called—you guessed it—<a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Hellebarden_%26_Helme">Hellebarden &amp; Helme</a>. All this stuff is also <a class="url http outside" href="https://github.com/kensanata/halberdsnhelmets">available from GitHub</a>.</p><p>This was the year where my classic, open ended campaign (the one I started in 2010) started drifting into <em style="font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0.125em; padding-left: 0.125em;">diceless</em> territory. The reaction roll ended up growing in importance as players gained levels. I wrote about it in my <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2014-08-21_No_Dice">No Dice</a> post. Later I read Peter Fröhlich’s blog post <a class="url http outside" href="http://nilisnotnull.blogspot.ch/2014/11/riffing-on-2d6-reaction-rolls.html">Riffing on 2d6: Reaction Rolls</a> and started to doubt my decision to add more elements to my reaction roll table. And to be honest my referee screen still has the old table on it.</p><p>Since <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Apocalypse_World" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Apocalypse World</a> introduced me to a particular structure of writing 2d6 tables, I’ve proposed two house rules using it: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2014-07-30_Research">Magic Research</a> and <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2014-01-12_Chase_Rule">Chase Rule</a>.</p><p>I really liked this <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2014-07-06_Your_First_Time_Game">advice for first time referees</a> by Greg MacKenzie.</p><p>I <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2014-02-17_No_More_Pendragon">stopped running my Pendragon campaign</a>.</p><p>My favorite role-playing game that isn’t classic D&amp;D continues to be <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Lady_Blackbird">Lady Blackbird</a>. Such sweetness, whenever I run it a local convention.</p><p>This year I stopped running the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=One_Page_Dungeon_Contest" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">One Page Dungeon Contest</a> and felt much better <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-11-16_How_To_Run_A_Contest">than in 2013</a>!</p><div style="text-align: center">&#x262f;</div><p>And with that, here’s to the blogs, conversations with strangers on the Internet, and <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/">freedom, justice and peace for us all</a>.</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Wed, 31 Dec 2014 17:16:23 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2014-12-31_My_RPG_YearAlex Schroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2014-12-31_My_RPG_Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2014-12-31_My_RPG_YearRPGRetrospectiveLooking Backhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-12-28_Looking_Back
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-12-28_Looking_Back<p>The end of the year is always a good opportunity to look over the year’s posts—RPG posts, to be exact. The year itself started on a sad note: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-02-12_Fight_On_is_going_down">Fight On! is going down</a>. The writing was already on the wall in 2012 and the adventure I had submitted for the last issue is available as a free PDF, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Caverns_of_Slime">Caverns of Slime</a>.</p><p>But on to positive things! I tried to list the <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-10-23_Old_School_Fanzines">Old School Fanzines</a> I knew, hoping to find a magazine “for me”. It’s weird. What about Fight On! Magazine made me want to contribute? What I remember best are the early levels of The Dismal Depths and the <a class="url http outside" href="http://fomalhaut.lfg.hu/category/english/resources/">Fomalhaut</a> material by Gabor Lux.</p><p style="padding-top: 1em; "><em style="font-style: normal; font-variant:small-caps; letter-spacing: 0.125em;">I still use</em> my <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-02-21_Character_Generator_and_Price_Differences">classic D&amp;D character generator</a>, for non-player characters and for character sheets on my <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/">Campaign Wiki</a>. Some examples: <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/BeremAndBeyond/Waran">Waran</a> and <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/BeremAndBeyond/Rinathil">Rinathil</a> using ACKS, <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Karameikos/Stefan">Stefan</a> and <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/FünfWinde/Garo">Garo</a> (this one belongs to my wife) using B/X D&amp;D, <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Ritter%C2%A0von%C2%A0Salisbury/Guy_de_Falt">Sir Guy</a> (this one by a former player) and <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Ritter%C2%A0von%C2%A0Salisbury/Sewolt_the_Fox">Sir Sewolt</a> (another one belonging to my wife) using Pendragon.</p><p>Next session we will be assaulting the Barrowmaze using a party generated by drawing from a pile of random first level characters generated by this character generator. Electronic vat men!</p><p style="padding-top: 1em; "><em style="font-style: normal; font-variant:small-caps; letter-spacing: 0.125em;">I was looking for an alternative</em> to creating a hex map using Inkscape (something I have been doing <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/FünfWinde/Karte.svgz">for my Sea of the Five Winds</a> campaign) and so I wrote <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Text_Mapper">Text Mapper</a>. I wrote a post <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-07-16_Inkscape_Mapping_and_mkhexgrid">comparing the two methods</a>.</p><p>To be honest, however, I haven’t been using it. My Sea of the Five Winds campaigns already has a map, my Pendragon game uses the maps from the book, DM Florian uses Hexographer, DM Harald uses the maps from the book.</p><p style="padding-top: 1em; "><em style="font-style: normal; font-variant:small-caps; letter-spacing: 0.125em;">It felt weird</em> to return to [RedHandOfDoom Red Hand of Doom]. I was running it for the kids and using <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html">Labyrinth Lord</a> instead of D&amp;D 3.5. I enjoyed it very much. We skipped two chapters, though: no fighting the druid lich and no confronting of Tiamat’s avatar at the end. We used the mass combat rules from JB’s B/X Companion.</p><p style="padding-top: 1em; "><em style="font-style: normal; font-variant:small-caps; letter-spacing: 0.125em;">I wrote two one page adventures</em> in 2013 that are based on my actual prep notes, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-11-08_Adventure_Design_Contest">To Rob A Witch</a> and <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-12-22_Sepulchre_of_the_Clone">Sepulchre of the Clone</a>.</p><p>That reminds me. Last spring I ran the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=One_Page_Dungeon_Contest_2013" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">One Page Dungeon Contest 2013</a> and all the posts are tagged <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/1PDC">1PDC</a>. I’m currently not planning to run the contest in 2014. Do you know anybody who would like to do it? I wrote <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-11-16_How_To_Run_A_Contest">How To Run A Contest</a> to help you get started.</p><p>I also discontinued the <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-12-08_Old_School_RPG_Planet_Going_Down">Old School RPG Planet</a>. If you’re willing to do the actual leg work of asking people to submit their sites, talking to bloggers, answering questions, I could set it up again. I am willing to handle the technical aspects of it. I just don’t want to deal with angry dudes on the Internet.</p><p>But on to more positive things again!</p><p style="padding-top: 1em; "><em style="font-style: normal; font-variant:small-caps; letter-spacing: 0.125em;">I still use</em> my <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-02-16_Spell_Book_Notation">Spell Book Notation</a>. That’s because I use <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-11-26_A_Strict_Reading_of_the_Magic_System">a strict reading of the magic system</a> such that elves and magic-users have a <em>repertoire</em> equivalent to their spells per day (to use the Adventure Conqueror King System terminology) and neither elves nor magic-users can copy spells from scrolls and spell books.</p><p>In my campaign this means that all the elves of a particular elf settlement will have a subset of the spells available to the elf lord. What I do is this: I write down the elf lord’s spell book using the notation above and whenever we meet a minion of a particular level, it’s easy to figure out which spells they have available by looking at the second column.</p><p>In a similar vein, I wrote about <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-08-21_One_Roll_Dungeon_Stocking">using 1d20 instead of 2d6 for dungeon stocking</a>. As it turns out, however, I do this so rarely that I keep forgetting about it. I just don’t run enough dungeon adventures.</p><p>Still in the same vein, I was also <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-08-21_Moldvay_Dungeon_Stocking_vs._Seclusium">comparing old school dungeon stocking to other methods of adventure location creation</a> and found the traditional way of doing things to be very quick and the result just as good as the new ways. I’m a gaming traditionalist at heart, I guess.</p><p>I thought about <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-08-19_Skills_Inspired_By_Apocalypse_World">using skills inspired by Apocalypse World</a> in my games but ended up not doing it. DM Harald does it in his campaign, but I remain sceptical.</p><p style="padding-top: 1em; "><em style="font-style: normal; font-variant:small-caps; letter-spacing: 0.125em;">I wrote a bit about running the game.</em> There was a post on <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-12-13_Session_Preparation_Process">my session preparation process for old school games</a>, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-10-29_How_To_Run_Fate">how to run Fate</a>, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-10-23_Settlements_in_Sandboxes">how to run settlements in sandbox campaigns</a>, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-10-16_Knowledge_Skill_and_Narration_Rights">how to let players introduce facts</a> into your traditional campaign, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-09-05_Treasure">how to use treasure</a>, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-07-02_Initiative">group initiative</a> and <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-05-14_When_To_Roll">when to roll</a>.</p><p>In addition to that, I quoted a Google+ comment by Ian Borchardt <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-11-26_Wilderness_Encounters">on wilderness encounters</a> and a comment by Kevin Crawford <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2013-07-29_Urban_Campaigns">on urban campaigns</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center">&#x262f;</div><p>And with that, here’s to the blogs, conversations with strangers on the Internet, and <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/">freedom, justice and peace for us all</a>.</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Sat, 28 Dec 2013 15:57:14 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2013-12-28_Looking_BackAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2013-12-28_Looking_Backhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2013-12-28_Looking_BackRPGRetrospectiveRecommended PPG Blog Posts For This Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-12-24_Recommended_PPG_Blog_Posts_For_This_Year
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-12-24_Recommended_PPG_Blog_Posts_For_This_Year<p>I think of myself as an Old School RPG blogger. Looking back, these are the posts I’d recommend.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-01-24_Changing_Gameplay_Over_Time">2012-01-24 Changing Gameplay Over Time</a></strong>: “The promise of ever changing game play is what makes D&amp;D interesting. The reason this works, I think, is because the spells you gain don’t simply scale. The game changes if you can be invisible and fly. The game changes when you can dimension door and teleport. The game changes when you can travel to the planes. Outside of the specific rules, the tradition also encourages changes to the game when you reach name level and build a stronghold, and it changes once more when you start to forge alliances with and wage wars against neighbors.”</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-02-09_How_To_Write_A_Module">2012-02-09 How To Write A Module</a></strong>: I finally finished <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Caverns_of_Slime">Caverns of Slime</a> in 2012. This blog post is a write up of the guidelines I used to write this high level adventure.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-02-09_Social_Skills_Revisited">2012-02-09 Social Skills Revisited</a></strong>: This is more of a link to an article Courtney wrote on his blog regarding interactions with non-player characters. In terms of my approach to the game, Courtney remains one the most influential bloggers. “I enjoy the acting at the table because it’s funny. That’s why I prefer not to replace social interactions with dice rolling. But that doesn’t mean that social interactions cannot be quantified. Have a list of needs, traits and desires ready and pick two.”</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-02-18_Ode_to_Ode_to_Black_Dougal">2012-02-18 Ode to Ode to Black Dougal</a></strong>: “Reading Ode to Black Dougal really made me appreciate the Basic/Expert edition of D&amp;D by Moldvay, Cook &amp; Marsh. Let me link to his awesome series, <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline">B</em>X is my Favorite<em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline">.”</em></p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-02-28_I_don't_like_Bennies">2012-02-28 I don't like Bennies</a></strong>: “I’d rather agonize over a decision to fight, I’d rather weep because of the blows of fate bringing me down (and not because I made a deal with the referee and got a fate point for it but because I made a mistake).”</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-03-04_Old_School_Fanzines">2012-03-04 Old School Fanzines</a></strong>: Basically a list of links to RPG fanzines. I assume this might remain a useful resource for a few years.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-09_Commenting_As_I_Go_(1PDC)">2012-05-09 Commenting As I Go (1PDC)</a></strong>:</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-12_More_One_Page_Dungeon_Recommendations">2012-05-12 More One Page Dungeon Recommendations</a></strong>:</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-13_More_Recommended_Dungeons">2012-05-13 More Recommended Dungeons</a></strong>:</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-22_Even_More_Recommended_Dungeons">2012-05-22 Even More Recommended Dungeons</a></strong>:</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-30_The_Last_Batch_Of_Favorites">2012-05-30 The Last Batch Of Favorites</a></strong>: I’ve run the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=One_Page_Dungeon_Contest_2012" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">One Page Dungeon Contest 2012</a> again and these are the entries I personally recommend. If you don’t have the time to look through them all, look through these.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-22_Thinking_About_Solar_System_RPG">2012-05-22 Thinking About Solar System RPG</a></strong>: A return to the topics of this year: I like change over time, I don’t like unified resolution mechanics. “Abstract combat, abstract conflict resolution, and I’m wondering whether as a gamer, I might prefer more grounding.”</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-05-15_The_Forgotten_Depths">2012-05-15 The Forgotten Depths</a></strong>: I really liked inventing monster stats for this One Page “Dungeon” (actually <a class="url http outside" href="http://themetalearth.blogspot.com/2011/03/opd-entry.html">a one page hexcrawl</a>). This is when I decided that I want to quickly invent <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-06-25_Monster_Stats">my own monster stats</a> when writing stuff up so that I’m no longer bound by any licensing terms.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-06-20_Hexcrawl_Procedure">2012-06-20 Hexcrawl Procedure</a></strong>: The step-by-step instructions of how I run my hexcrawls and the assumptions I’m making. Something to add to my <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Swiss_Referee_Style_Manual">Swiss Referee Style Manual</a>.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-07-06_Training_Players">2012-07-06 Training Players</a></strong>: How I handle lies, promises and torture at my table. Basically, I don’t lie to my players, the non-player characters keep their promises and I don’t want to hear about torture at my table.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-08-15_Unbalanced_Encounters_Are_Fun">2012-08-15 Unbalanced Encounters Are Fun</a></strong>: “I think the key here is that what brings me back to the gaming table is the same thing that makes slot machines addictive. It’s called the variable ratio reinforcement schedule: a reinforcement schedule in which the number of responses necessary to produce reinforcement varies from trial to trial, according to Wikipedia.”</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-08-24_Ursomancy">2012-08-24 Ursomancy</a></strong>: The first of a handful of posts where I tried to extract useful bits from my <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Caverns_of_Slime">Caverns of Slime</a> adventure. I feel that these bits make a nice blog post, allow people to comment, allow people to learn about the adventure without having to download and <em style="font-style: normal; letter-spacing: 0.125em; padding-left: 0.125em;">read</em> more than thirty pages. I know that I download a lot of stuff that I end up not reading.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-09-01_SVG_Character_Sheet">2012-09-01 SVG Character Sheet</a></strong>: I posted a number of times about the a little web application I wrote that generates random Labyrinth Lord characters including random equipment. You can also use it to just link to a good looking character sheet of your own from a forum, wiki or blog. All the values shown can be changed using URL parameters.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-10-11_Traveller%2c_Spelljammer%2c_Planescape">2012-10-11 Traveller, Spelljammer, Planescape</a></strong>: My campaign had taken a turn towards Planescape and Spelljammer, and I discovered that I could use the Traveller subsector random map generator for my Fantasy campaign.</p><p><strong><a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2012-11-17_How_To_Build_A_Dungeon">2012-11-17 How To Build A Dungeon</a></strong>: Much like the hexcrawl procedure I had posted earlier this year, this post talks about three dungeons I used in my games and how I went about developing them.</p><p>And I think that’s it! The blog posts I returned to, the blog posts I felt are worthy of being read again. If you want more stuff to read, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-12-28_Recommended_RPG_Reading_On_This_Blog">there is a similar overview for 2011</a>.</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Mon, 24 Dec 2012 12:07:20 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2012-12-24_Recommended_PPG_Blog_Posts_For_This_YearAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2012-12-24_Recommended_PPG_Blog_Posts_For_This_Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2012-12-24_Recommended_PPG_Blog_Posts_For_This_YearRPGRetrospectiveRecommended RPG Reading On This Bloghttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-12-28_Recommended_RPG_Reading_On_This_Blog
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-12-28_Recommended_RPG_Reading_On_This_Blog<div class="right" style="float: right"><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kensanata/6551445623/" class="url http"><img alt="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/6551445623_3b39842510.jpg" class="url http" src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/6551445623_3b39842510.jpg" /></a> </p></div><p>I’ve looked through my RPG posts for the year 2011 and picked the ones that I’d like to recommend to new readers of this blog.</p><p>As I look back on all these posts, I realize how many of them built upon things I had read elsewhere. Truly, the blogs are a major inspiration for me. Thank you all!</p><p><em>How to run your sandbox</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-03-11_GM_Style_Manual">2011-03-11 GM Style Manual</a> got turned into the <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Swiss_Referee_Style_Manual">Swiss Referee Style Manual</a>. There is additional advice on <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-08-20_Building_a_Better_GM">2011-08-20 Building a Better GM</a>, <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-05-05_Tools_for_a_Sandbox_Referee">2011-05-05 Tools for a Sandbox Referee</a> and <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-04-28_My_Sandbox_Starts_With_A_Mission">2011-04-28 My Sandbox Starts With A Mission</a>.</p><p><em>How to take notes for an adventure</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-03-31_How_To_Organize_Adventure_Notes">2011-03-31 How To Organize Adventure Notes</a>.</p><p><em>How to run combat</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-11-24_Two_Manticores%2c_Old_School">2011-11-24 Two Manticores, Old School</a> describes a fight with many ad-hoc rulings and not a lot of boring to-hit rolls. Here’s a house rule of mine: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-03-25_Protecting_Party_Members_In_Combat">2011-03-25 Protecting Party Members In Combat</a>.</p><p><em>How to use special abilities to model subclasses</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-12-20_Magic_Without_Spells">2011-12-20 Magic Without Spells</a>.</p><p><em>Character generation</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-03-15_Character_Generation_Shortcuts_PDF">2011-03-15 Character Generation Shortcuts PDF</a> ended up as a submission to Fight On! magazine.</p><p><em>Atmosphere</em>: I liked the original “The Priest of Chaos Said…” blog post and wrote <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-06-24_The_Priest_of_Law_Said%e2%80%a6">2011-06-24 The Priest of Law Said…</a> in response to it.</p><p><em>My own preferences</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-06-21_I_Prefer_Traditional_Games%2c_I_Think">2011-06-21 I Prefer Traditional Games, I Think</a>. <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-05-14_Role_Play%2c_not_Wish_Fulfilment">2011-05-14 Role Play, not Wish Fulfilment</a>.</p><p><em>Player agency</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-09-08_Player_Agency">2011-09-08 Player Agency</a> was very much influenced by Courtney’s blog posts on the same topic.</p><p><em>Badges</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-08-22_Badges">2011-08-22 Badges</a> is how I see myself as a referee and as a player.</p><p><em>Mapping</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-05-24_I_Want_A_Lot_Of_Labels_On_My_Maps">2011-05-24 I Want A Lot Of Labels On My Maps</a>. Also, how to do it: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-03-21_The_Underdark_Gazette_is_Full_of_Win">2011-03-21 The Underdark Gazette is Full of Win</a> (yes, it’s an unlikely title but it goes on to talk about mapping). Let’s not forget <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-02-12_Map_Making_Using_Inkscape">2011-02-12 Map Making Using Inkscape</a>.</p><p><em>One Page Dungeon Contest</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-11-01_One_Page_Dungeon_Contest_History">2011-11-01 One Page Dungeon Contest History</a> is about the early days. <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-04-24_My_One_Page_Dungeon_Contest_Nominations">2011-04-24 My One Page Dungeon Contest Nominations</a> lists the entries I liked in particular.</p><p><em>Solar System</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-09-30_Solar_System_vs._Old_School_D%26D">2011-09-30 Solar System vs. Old School D&amp;D</a>; also note the long discussion on the comment page.</p><p><em>Reading books</em>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-08-16_Spending_Time_With_Books">2011-08-16 Spending Time With Books</a> is about reading a series for the rest of your life as the author will just keep writing novel after novel.</p><p>For desperate referees that want to encourage their players to <strong>write session journals</strong>: <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-06-16_Session_Reports_Are_Read_Just_Once%2c_If_At_All">2011-06-16 Session Reports Are Read Just Once, If At All</a></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:37:21 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2011-12-28_Recommended_RPG_Reading_On_This_BlogAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2011-12-28_Recommended_RPG_Reading_On_This_Bloghttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2011-12-28_Recommended_RPG_Reading_On_This_BlogRPGRetrospectiveMy RPG Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-12-28_My_RPG_Year
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-12-28_My_RPG_Year<div class="right" style="float: right"><p> <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kensanata/6575130171/" class="url http"><img alt="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/6575130171_bda4140266.jpg" class="url http" src="https://alexschroeder.ch/pics/6575130171_bda4140266.jpg" /></a> </p></div><p>A review of the year 2011 in gaming.</p><ol><li>I kept working on my <a class="url http outside" href="https://campaignwiki.org/">Campaign Wiki</a> site. Of particular note for old school gamers are the <a class="inter Campaign outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/LinksToWisdom/HomePage">Links to Wisdom</a> (a collection of links to interesting old school blog posts all over the blogosphere) and <a class="inter Campaign" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/Monsters/HomePage"><span class="site">Campaign</span><span class="separator">:</span><span class="interpage">Monsters</span></a> wikis (a collection of old school monsters with open licenses). The <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Old_School_RPG_Planet" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Old School RPG Planet</a> (a collection of all the old school blogs I know) is still up and running but I haven’t looked at the logs to determine whether it is popular or not.</li><li>I ran the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=One_Page_Dungeon_Contest_2011" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">One Page Dungeon Contest 2011</a>. I might do it again in 2012 unless somebody else feels like running it. I’d be happy to help. I also used several entries to populate my own sandbox.</li><li>Gaming is still strong. I had to cancel a biweekly <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html">Labyrinth Lord</a> group because of dwindling players but I added the two remaining players to my monthly Labyrinth Lord group and that one is working out well. I rather enjoyed running two parties in the same campaign. Too bad this won’t work out anymore.</li><li>Our biweekly Indie game night is still going strong. I really liked <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Lady_Blackbird">Lady Blackbird</a>. I wrote a very short, German <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=FATE" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">FATE</a> variant (<a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2011-02-08_Der_Geist_Mesopotamiens_%e2%80%93_ein_kurzes%2c_deutsches_Fate">Der Geist Mesopotamiens</a>) for us. At first I really liked FATE because I thought I really liked <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=FUDGE" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">FUDGE</a> – but I had never actually played them. Now that I have, I think I prefer self-made and light variants of FATE, if at all. <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Spirit_of_the_Century" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Spirit of the Century</a> was long and confusing, <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Diaspora" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Diaspora</a> was dry, <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Starblazer_Adventures" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Starblazer Adventures</a> and <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Dresden_Files_RPG" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Dresden Files RPG</a> were so big I didn’t even buy them. My Mesopotamia FATE variant fits on ten or twelve pages. I like that.</li><li>My monthly <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html">Labyrinth Lord</a> game with three kids and their dad has managed to attract the attention of guest players. Maybe the group will grow? Doing my part pulling in the next generation.</li><li>I switched my biweekly D&amp;D 3.5 campaign to <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Solar_System_RPG" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Solar System RPG</a> and when our montly Pathfinder adventure path ended, we switched to <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=HARP" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">HARP</a>. I even cancelled some of my Paizo subscriptions and will most likely cancel my Adventure Path subscription as well. I think I have found my preferred gaming style for the next two or three years: old school, <abbr title="do it yourself">DIY</abbr> D&amp;D with a lot of inspiration from the <abbr title="old school renaissance">OSR</abbr> blogs and fanzines like <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Fight_On" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Fight On</a>! magazine.</li><li>I did some drawings and maps for <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Fight_On" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Fight On</a>! magazine but I haven’t finished the dungeon level I promised to do! Clearly this needs to get done as soon as possible.</li><li>My plan of having social meetups of the local role-playing gamers has worked out. We had a summer grill and I will be planning a winter fondue. And we played on December 25.</li><li>The blog that provided a lot of food for thought this year was Courtney’s <a class="url http outside" href="http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/">Hack &amp; Slash</a>. Absolutely recommended. Topics to look up are the <em>quantum ogre</em> and <em>player agency</em>. Absolutely shaped my thinking about role-playing games this year. (Previous blogs in the same category would be <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Jeff%e2%80%99s_Gameblog" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Jeff’s Gameblog</a> for old school madness and inspiration, <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=The_Alexandrian" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">The Alexandrian</a> for the analysis of running the old school adventure <em>Caves of Thracia</em> and <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Planet_Algol" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Planet Algol</a> for the halucinogenic mix of science fiction, pulp and fantasy.)</li><li>I was interested in Google+ but somehow it’s not working out for me. I feel like I need to share with circles in order to not be a spammer and yet I feel this thorougly reduces discoverability. Something doesn’t feel right about it. I keep using Twitter a lot (@kensanata). I don’t use Hangout to game because I have enough opportunity to play at my table.</li><li>I posted more German RPG blogs (using the <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/RSP">RSP</a> tag) – if you’re only interested in English RPG related articles, make sure to subscribe to the appropriate <a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/RPG">RPG</a> tag only.</li></ol><p>I’ll need to collect a list of “best” blog posts. Tomorrow, maybe.</p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Wed, 28 Dec 2011 00:30:20 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2011-12-28_My_RPG_YearAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2011-12-28_My_RPG_Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2011-12-28_My_RPG_YearRPGRetrospectiveLooking Backhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-12-30_Looking_Back
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-12-30_Looking_Back<p>A Paizo tweet made me post on this <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=EN_World" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">EN World</a> thread about <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/298732-most-played-frpg-2010-a.html">the games I played in 2010</a>. Here’s what I wrote.</p><p>I joined a group with the goal of trying <a class="url http outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/MontagInZ%C3%BCrich?action=collect;match=%5e2010-">as many game systems as possible</a>. What I played:</p><ul><li>a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=My_Life_With_Master" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">My Life With Master</a> (<a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-12-28_My_Life_With_Master">2010-12-28 My Life With Master</a>) <em>a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=In_A_Wicked_Age" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">In A Wicked Age</a> a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Don%e2%80%99t_Rest_Your_Head" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Don’t Rest Your Head</a> a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Donjon" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Donjon</a> a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Dungeon_Slayers" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Dungeon Slayers</a> two sessions of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Polaris" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Polaris</a> (<a class="local" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2010-12-06_Polaris">2010-12-06 Polaris</a>) two session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Mountain_Witch" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Mountain Witch</a> a session of Robin Laws’ <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Feng_Shui" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Feng Shui</a> three sessions of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Dogs_in_the_Vineyard" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Dogs in the Vineyard</a> two sessions of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition a session of Paranoia 2nd edition three sessions of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Spirit_of_the_Century" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Spirit of the Century</a> a session of <a class="url http outside" href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html">Labyrinth Lord</a> a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Western_City" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Western City</a> a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=The_Shadow_of_Yesterday" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">The Shadow of Yesterday</a> a session of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Burning_Wheel" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Burning Wheel</a>’s <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Blossoms_Are_Falling" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Blossoms Are Falling</a></em></li></ul><p>Outside of this group I also played three sessions of D&amp;D 4E and a session of Star Wars Saga edition.</p><p>And in [MyCampaigns my regular campaigns] I played:</p><ul><li>Rolemaster (got switched to Legends of Middle Earth)</li><li><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Legends_of_Middle_Earth" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Legends of Middle Earth</a> (got replaced by A Song of Ice And Fire)</li><li>A Song of Ice And Fire (I had to quit – no more time!)</li><li><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Mongoose_Traveller" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Mongoose Traveller</a> (got switched to Diaspora)</li><li><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Diaspora" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Diaspora</a> (got replaced by a second Labyrinth Lord campaign)</li><li>D&amp;D 3.5 (two campaigns still ongoing)</li><li>Pathfinder RPG (one campaign still ongoing)</li><li><a class="url http outside" href="http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.html">Labyrinth Lord</a> (just started a second ongoing campaign)</li></ul><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=indie" rel="tag" title="Tag">indie</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:15:24 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2010-12-30_Looking_BackAlexSchroederupdatedmajor8https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2010-12-30_Looking_Backhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2010-12-30_Looking_BackRPGindieRetrospectiveGaming This Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2009-12-28_Gaming_This_Year
https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/2009-12-28_Gaming_This_Year<p>How was 2009? <a class="url http outside" href="http://rpg.brouhaha.us/?p=2166">MJ Harnish’s gaming in 2009</a> inspired this post. <img alt=":)" class="smiley" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /></p><p><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Hagfish_Tavern" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Hagfish Tavern</a> – the <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Rise of the Runelords</em> campaign started in December 2008 and was going strongly in 2009. We had an intermezzo with <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Secret of Smuggler’s Cove</em>, continued the campaign until some players complained that it was too tough and they felt they didn’t really have an in-character motivation to fight ogres. So we had a second intermezzo written for a party two levels below current party average with <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale</em>. We’re slowly returning to the campaign, however. This is my Monday game and it’s firmly in <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Paizo" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Paizo</a>’s hand. It went from weekly to biweekly at some point because some of the players didn’t want to play every single week. In a way that relieves me of some reading pressure, but on the other hand it also takes out some of the drive. We replaced two players: One had started a family, the other spent weeks and months visiting his girlfriend in the states. And there’s still a player on the waiting list. Amazing!</p><p><a class="inter Campaign" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/CityoftheSpiderQueen%20City%20of%20the%20Spider%20Queen/HomePage"><span class="site">Campaign</span><span class="separator">:</span><span class="interpage">CityoftheSpiderQueen City of the Spider Queen</span></a> – when Hagfish Tavern went biweekly, one of the players volunteered to run <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>City of the Spider Queen</em> by James Wyatt which he didn’t like since it was a big combat fest and we moved into the <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Silver Marches</em> by Ed Greenwood and Jason Carl (both adventures by Wizards of the Coast). It was a fun romp from level 10 up to 13, but then a little kid arrived on the scene and the DM had to drop a game...</p><p><a class="inter Campaign outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/MontagsInZürich/HomePage">Montags in Zürich</a> – when <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>City of the Spider Queen</em> was canceled I had a second biweekly Monday slot to fill and decided to give all the small games a chance. I was ashamed of all the unused rule-books on my shelf. I started looking for people interested in one-shots and two-session games. And surprisingly, I found some! We really liked <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Spirit of the Century</em>; I didn’t like how <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Blossoms are Falling</em> (and <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Burning Wheel</em>) went; I liked <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Western City</em>; the others tell me that <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>My Life With Master</em> and <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Legends of Middle Earth</em> are very cool. Legends of Middle Earth will in fact replace <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Rolemaster</em> in our Middle Earth game! We also playtested <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Death Frost Doom</em> using <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Labyrinth Lord</em> which was ok but not mind blowing. I’m looking forward to some Warhammer RPG 2nd edition and many more strange and weird games. We have a long <a class="inter CW outside" href="http://campaignwiki.org/wiki/MontagsInZürich/Systeme">list of systems we want to try</a>.</p><p><em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Mouse Guard</em> – we played a few sessions and it just didn’t quite work for us. It felt passionless and dry. I think I need to see some actual play or sit at an awesome table in order to find the missing link. I think I’m not alone in this “want to like Luke Crane games” camp.</p><p><em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Echoes of Heaven</em> – the campaign ended prematurely. Some players left and we never really managed to recruit new ones. The DM was afraid of cat piss men and method actors – the two of us having been bitten before – and when we needed to reschedule, it didn’t work out and nobody was unhappy about it. Luckily all four of us still play in other campaigns together, so all is good.</p><p><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Alder_King" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Alder King</a> – still my favorite game on two Sundays every month. We use D&amp;D 3.5 and the <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Lenap</em> map of the <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Wilderlands of High Fantasy</em>. There’s hex crawling, players setting goals, <a class="url http outside" href="http://shamsgrog.blogspot.ch/2008/05/entourage-approach.html">Entourage Approach</a>, and soon we’ll have a mass battle. The success of this campaign is giving me thoughts regarding the Monday game and all the Paizo material I’m subscribed to. I love having the Pathfinder Adventure Paths and Modules, but if I’m not reading them (because I might end up playing them), and I’m not running them (there’s not enough time!), and I’m not liking them as much as the organic campaign I’m running in my Sunday game – then perhaps I should consider canceling my subscriptions? I don’t want to do that. But the seed of doubt has been sown.</p><p><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Golden_Lanterns" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Golden Lanterns</a> – we’re still playing in the Shackled City adventure path! It’s a monthly Sunday game, so it’s crawls along at a snail’s pace. We’re approaching the end, however. I don’t know what James is planning to run for us in 2010. He’s a big Paizo fan, so I expect <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Second Darkness</em> or <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Legacy of Fire</em>.</p><p><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Kaylash" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Kaylash</a> – I started a (Mongoose) <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Traveler</em> game. I’m still not sure I whether I like it. I think my main problem is that I lack role-models for good science fiction adventures. I’m improvising a lot. We also treat trade and routine skill checks for hyper jumps as part of the regular game. We’ll see where that goes.</p><p><a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Grenzmarken" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Grenzmarken</a> – the <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=West_Marches" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">West Marches</a> style game I’m in will end in a few sessions. It has been great fun and it has shown me that you can run a campaign with more than ten players. You just need to make sure that there are never more than a handful of players at the table. In this campaign sessions often went as follows: players come together, get a mission from the DM, small fight, big fight, loot, and return to base. Somehow the campaign was never really player driven. We’ll see what Peter has in store for us next. I heard it was going to be Warhammer RPG 2nd edition with a strong online/wiki component.</p><p>I also played some <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Battle Lore</em>, some <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Iron Tide</em>, some <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Pandemic</em>, and some <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Bang!</em> I’m looking forward to some <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Race for the Galaxy</em> and <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Dominion: Intrigue</em>. I was unable to convince a friend to try <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=De_Bellis_Antiquitatis" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">De Bellis Antiquitatis</a>.</p><p>I didn’t play through <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Fable 2</em>, didn’t play through <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion</em>, bought <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Dragon Age: Origins</em> and played it a lot at the end of the year.</p><p>My wishes for 2010:</p><ol><li>I want to run a B/X D&amp;D campaign using <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Labyrinth Lord</em> rules.</li><li>I want to run a <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Swords and Planet</em> campaign in the vein of <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Carcosa" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Carcosa</a>, <a class="edit" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=edit;id=Planet_Algol" rel="nofollow" title="Click to edit this page">Planet Algol</a>, or <a class="url http outside" href="http://swordsofathanor.blogspot.com/">Savage Swords of Athanor</a></li><li>I want to run a Babylonian, Assyrian, <em style="font-style: normal; text-decoration: underline";>Swords and Sorcery</em> campaign, possibly based around <a class="url http outside" href="http://xoth.net/publishing/xp1/index.htm">XP1: The Spider-God’s Bride</a>.</li></ol><p>My interest in roleplaying games was rekindled [HomoLudens three years ago], and it hasn’t collapsed, yet! <img alt=":)" class="smiley" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /></p><p>Tags: <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=RPG" rel="tag" title="Tag">RPG</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Games" rel="tag" title="Tag">Games</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Life" rel="tag" title="Tag">Life</a> <a class="outside tag" href="https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=tag;id=Retrospective" rel="tag" title="Tag">Retrospective</a></p>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:44:13 GMThttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki/Comments_on_2009-12-28_Gaming_This_YearAlexSchroedernewmajor1https://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=history;id=2009-12-28_Gaming_This_Yearhttps://alexschroeder.ch/wiki?action=browse;diff=1;id=2009-12-28_Gaming_This_YearRPGGamesLifeRetrospective